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Crime Wave in Sioux Falls Suggests Need for More Refugees

By Cory Allen Heidelberger on 2019-12-12

The idea isn’t nearly as crazy as things Neal Tapio says. Roll with me….

The fact that Minnehaha County is down one state’s attorney appears to coincide with a crime wave in Sioux Falls:

The fourth robbery this week happened around 10:45 last night at Jokerz Casino at W. 31st Street and South Minnesota Avenue.

Police say the suspect entered a nearby business with a weapon and demanded money. He left with an undermined amount of cash.

…This is the fourth robbery of a Sioux Falls business since Sunday. Three gas stations were targeted earlier this week. One arrest has been made so far. Police are still working to determine if the robberies are related [Kristin Hergert, “And Then There Were Four,” KELO Radio, 2019.12.12].

Maybe the banditos figure that the city’s struggles in recruiting cops means they can get by with more bad behavior. Perhaps Mayor Paul TenHaken should hurry up and sign that new “Welcome, Refugees!” order so more good people can move to Sioux Falls and apply to protect and serve as police officers in their new homeland.

Published in South Dakota

7 Comments

  1. Debbo 2019-12-12 22:43

    Refugees are less likely to commit crimes than citizens. They’re more eager to make a positive contribution to their new community.

    Nope, I don’t have a cite in front of me, but I’ve read that many, many times from reputable sources. So yeah, SF, you need more immigrants.

  2. bearcreekbat 2019-12-13 01:15

    Here’s one of numerous links for you Debbo, this one referencing a great deal of research on immigration and crime that validates your statement. The entire article is worth your time, but for those in a hurry here are a couple quick quotes that get to the point:

    . . . [A] review of available research (a study of studies, if you will) does not support the claim that migrants are more likely to engage in criminal behavior than native-born Americans. In fact, researchers have often observed the opposite relationship.
    . . .

    According to an analysis by New American Economy (NAE), a bipartisan group advocating for immigration reform, the 10 cities that received the most refugees in the last ten years saw drops in crime—sometimes, dramatic ones. . . .

    https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/02/crime-immigration-city-migrants-refugees-state-of-the-union/582001/

  3. bearcreekbat 2019-12-13 01:25

    A couple more sources jump out:

    . . . [A] 2015 National Academy of Sciences study . . . found: “Immigrants are in fact much less likely to commit crime than natives, and the presence of large numbers of immigrants seems to lower crime rates.” The study added that “This disparity also holds for young men most likely to be undocumented immigrants: Mexican, Salvadoran, and Guatemalan men.”

    It continued: “Today, the belief that immigrants are more likely to commit crimes is perpetuated by ‘issue entrepreneurs’ who promote the immigrant-crime connection in order to drive restrictionist immigration policy.”

    https://www.politifact.com/california/statements/2017/aug/03/antonio-villaraigosa/mostly-true-undocumented-immigrants-less-likely-co/

    A representative of the CATO institute also cited research leading to the conclusion

    . . . that illegal immigrants are less likely to be criminals than native-born Americans. On the overall issue of immigration and crime, the evidence is so one-sided that even Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, has said that, “A lot of data does suggest immigrants are less likely to be involved in crime.” . . .

    https://www.cato.org/blog/illegal-immigrants-crime-assessing-evidence

  4. bearcreekbat 2019-12-13 01:35

    And to the points that not only do refugees commit fewer crimes because “They’re more eager to make a positive contribution to their new community,” additional research confirms their positive impact on communities:

    . . . Researchers suggest that undocumented immigrants may be less likely to engage in serious criminal offending behavior because they seek to earn money and not to draw attention to themselves. Additionally, immigrants who have access to social services are less likely to engage in crime than those who live in communities where such access is not available. Some emerging research has shown that communities with concentrated immigrant populations have less crime because these communities become revitalized. . . .

    https://oxfordre.com/criminology/criminology/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264079-e-93

    An investment of our tax dollars in refugees not only is humane, it pays great returns to local communities that otherwise are drying up.

  5. Debbo 2019-12-13 15:02

    Perfect BCB. Thanks.

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